Kingdom Hearts
by Unlimited Blade Works
Summary: There were some days that you wished you had not gotten out of bed for. Then there were the days you wished never happened, for Uzumaki Naruto his world falling into darkness was the latter rather than the former. Now all he had to do was restore his world to light by taking down whoever was controlling The Heatless, really how hard could it be? Very apparently.


**Kingdom Hearts**

 **Chapter One: Nothing Worth Doing.**

 **Authors Note-**

Okay first things first, about the title.

I honestly couldn't think of anything better.

There okay I admit it, considering I've been working on this on and off for 3 weeks that's kinda pathetic but there it is.

Other than that please enjoy.

 **Story Start-**

"Home is where the heart is, that is what they say isn't it?" Naruto Uzumaki wondered as he stared up at the night sky. At the age of seventeen he considered himself to be fairly tall, just falling short of six foot by a scant inch and a half. Blue eyes blinked once as he looked up at the night sky, hundreds of thousands of stars all glowing above him.

Traverse Town that was where he called home now. After his own world had been swallowed up by The Heartless, did that mean that this was where his Heart was now or not? Or was his heart still with his friends, few though they were, back in his darkened world? Old Man Hokage who had taught him the basics of Magic, Kakashi the lazy silver haired man who sparred with him on occasion, Iruka his older brother in all but blood, his classmates was his heart still with them or was it with him now in this new place with his new allies.

Leon, who while grumpy as all hell, reminded of Sasuke a bit really, was still one of the kindest people he had ever known. Now that Naruto thought about it the older man had never told him his real name either. Yuffie or, as she introduced herself to others, The Great Ninja Yuffie, it was nice to have someone to talk shop with on occasion but Yuffie was also probably the first person who seemed to have an even more upbeat personality than he did. Aerith the one who helped him finally get the Cure Spell down, it had taken them two months and given Naruto the biggest headache of his life but she had eventually managed it. Never even once had she lost her temper or patience with him, even though Naruto had lost his temper at himself more than once.

Cid, the Accessory Shop owner and Inventor. The older man always made sure there was a hot meal waiting for him whenever Naruto returned from another world. The blond was also fairly certain that Cid was selling him the items the older man managed to procure at cost rather than making a profit off of him. While he had no real evidence to back that up Naruto just had a gut feeling about that and his instinct had rarely been wrong in the past, following his gut had also, more than once, gotten him up shit creek without a paddle but that was neither here nor there at this point.

With a flick of his wrist the blond summoned his weapon to him, The Keyblade. A gift, or mayhap more of a curse, from Hagoromo-Jiji. Naruto honestly was not to sure about that himself, the old man had given him a way to free his world from the grips of darkness as well as a way to pass onto other worlds but in exchange had taken away his ability to ever go home again. The three eyed psudo-god had stated that a Keyblade of Darkness required a sacrifice to be wielded by anyone before bequeathing him the blade and forcing him out into The Place Between Words.

Naruto of course had not been asked if he wished to make such a sacrifice, Hagoromo-Jiji had simply decided that it would be so. To begin with Naruto had blamed the old man for that, because it was the reason that he could never go back home even if he managed to restore his world. But he no longer did because even if he could never go back home at least he could save it, he may not be able to return but at least he could make sure it kept on existing. Ocean blue eyes were drawn down to his blade, a golden guard that looked like a half formed heart enclosed the hilt, a gear connecting to a chain that led down to a small kunai, his 'keychain'. The guard and hilt led onto a golden and red blade a half formed heart made of black steel joined with a star of equally dark metal before leading onto the blade itself, each etched with designs of gold. The blade itself was the same dark steel etched with red lines that made a geometric, though completely random, pattern. The edge was covered by gold, showing quite clearly where the sharp and deadly parts of his blade were.

Shattered Dreams was the name Naruto had been given for the blade by Hagoromo before he to fell into the dark with their world. Taking just enough time to jam the information about the Keyblade as well as how to use Corridors of Darkness and Keyblade Armour into Naruto's head before disappearing. From the day he had gotten it two years ago it had never once failed to slay an enemy before him, nor had it changed shape or adapted. Which Naruto was starting to get concerned about, unlike Keyblades of Light which drew on the power of bonds to achieve new forms for their wielders Keyblades of Darkness drew only from the wielder themselves. Changing shape and growing in power in accordance with their users needs and the power of their heart.

It made Naruto wonder, was Shattered Dreams already the ideal blade for him or was his heart simply to weak to make it evolve. Dismissing the thought the Keyblade wielder went back to observing the heavens above as his stomach growled, he hadn't eaten yet. Cid had asked if he had wanted anything but Naruto had declined, he was feeling tired and somewhat melancholy if he was being honest with himself.

Well melancholy was the wrong word really, Naruto knew exactly why he was sad. Today was the anniversary of his own worlds fall, that was enough to make anyone moody. Looking at the sky was just his way of trying to work out some of the frustration, usually the blond would go find some Heartless to beat on but he had promised Yuffie that he wouldn't go looking for trouble right after getting back.

"What are ya doin?" A cheerful voice asked as something small and warm alighted on the blonds head like it belonged there. Naruto didn't even have to look up to know who it was, he knew the voice well enough. But the question was why was she here now of all times, why wasn't she with the other two eating dinner they had all stated that they were hungry after they had gotten back.

"Evening Rikku." Naruto replied, his voice not really holding much in it. He could feel the small figure on his head push around a bit, trying to make herself more comfortable.

"Aww don't tell me you're being all mopy like Paine can be, please?" The words were said almost piteously, like the small woman on his head couldn't bare the thought of another mopey person around her. Which was probably correct now that Naruto thought about it, Rikku and Paine were always butting heads over how anti-social the latter was. Personally Naruto saw nothing wrong with the way Paine would act, sure she was a little bit sombre for his tastes but she was always kind as well, though that might not be readily apparent to most.

The feeling of weight on his head disappeared like it was never there before Rikku came into his field of view in full, she was tiny of that anyone would agree. Standing at a grand total of twelve inches in hight, her hair was golden yellow much like Naruto's own but pulled back into a messy ponytail with half a dozen braids with colourful beads in them added into the mix of hair to give it a kind of zany half slept in look, all of which was kept out of her green eyes by a blue headband. If it wasn't for the fact that Naruto knew from personal experience that the fairy like woman before him could use Magic he would honestly wonder exactly how her hair stayed like that all the time.

Rikku's outfit hadn't changed at all since the first time Naruto had met her. Back when he was fifteen and had just landed in Traverse Town, another person that had escaped from their collapsing world. Her shoes were cream with blue socks that led onto a pair of whitish-yellow stockings and a pair of orange, the best colour ever, they both agreed on that, shorts. Her stomach was left bare by an orange tank top, around her neck was a long scarf of red that ended in bright yellow tips that almost resembled feathers, fitting for a woman that was capable of self propelled flight. Green eyes stared at him in concern, something that the treasure hunters that called themselves The Gullwings had in spades, even if they tried to hide it at times.

"Thinking about home." It wasn't a question, Naruto knew that and Rikku had not framed it as one. Because she had seen him mope like this before, at the same time and usually in the same place for two years running and if Naruto knew Yuna and Paine, the other two small fairy like women he travelled around with, then they were probably somewhere around here trying to think of something to cheer him up with. Yuna was unfailingly kind like that and she would rope Paine, who was nowhere near as heartless as she tried to appear, into helping one way or the other.

Seriously that woman's puppy dog eyes should be classed as some kind of WMD, they were just that unfair!

"Yeah," Naruto's reply was simple and to the point, there was no reason in trying for deception when it would be quickly seen through. The fairy landed on his shoulder and leant in, small arms wrapping around his neck and giving the larger blond a surge of warmth. Being hugged wasn't something that had happened to him even at home, Shinobi were not exactly a touchy feely bunch after all, but Naruto could not deny that it felt good.

"It's not your fault you know." Rikku stated arms still around his neck, Naruto didn't bother answering her. Intellectually he knew it wasn't his fault, they both knew that, but guilt was not an emotion that followed logic in the slightest. Naruto knew he couldn't have done anything to help, but now he had the power to do so if he'd just had that power back then maybe, just maybe, things would be different!

Okay logically speaking assuming that he'd gotten the Keyblade the day before his world was swallowed whole the chances of anything changing were so close to zero that it was laughable, but they were not zero and it was for that exact fact that Naruto was tortured by it. Because no matter how unlikely the chances if he'd had this power just a little bit sooner maybe he could have changed things, the blond shook his head slightly, there was no point in pursuing that line of thought down that path lay only grief and madness, not a path he wished to tread.

Rikku's arms let go of his neck before the small woman once more made herself at home in his hair, apparently it was warmer there if she was to be believed. There was the clink of hardened clay on stone next to him and Naruto's eyes were drawn down to the plate that now sat beside him, a very nice looking chicken sandwich upon it standing on either side of the plate and looking a little bit worn were the final two member of The Gullwings, who had quite clearly carried it out to him. Not a long journey considering they could fly but when holding something that was quite heavy to them, it would not have been an easy one.

Yuna was looking up at him with concern, her mismatched blue and green eyes glistening slightly under the lamplight. She was the one who was always concerned about others, never thinking about herself that was her problem. Unlike Rikku who favoured shoes, Yuna preferred boots, a light blue pair that stopped just short of her knees. Her shorts left her knees uncovered while her left leg was half covered by a ruffled piece of light blue fabric that was attached to her belt, her top was white with a pink under shirt sticking out at places a bow of blue circled around her neck and then hung halfway down her chest. Unlike Rikku, Yuna's hair was dark brown, held out of her eyes by a pair of hair clips that looked like wings and appeared to be cut short, appeared being the operative word of that sentence. While the vast majority of Yuna's hair was indeed cut short, barely brushing her shoulders for the most part, she had one extremely long braid at the back that went down to near her feet covered by a pink covering. Naruto knew from personal experience that when uncovered and unbraided Yuna's hair was quite easily the longest of the entire group.

Paine was the last of the group, unlike the other two who favoured brighter colours Paine dressed in dark clothes. Black boots that went up to just above her ankle carried on them a silver bird in flight on the top of each boot. A pair of black stocking prevented anyone from sneaking a glance at the tiny woman's legs, minus the very small amount of thigh that was shown between the stockings and her shorts. Like everything else that Paine wore it was black with silver accents, this one consisting of a red belt with silver studs around her waist. Her upper body was covered by a black t-shirt and shawl draped across her shoulders, a silver cross holding the ends together, the red eyed fairy's silver hair was cut short and, unlike Yuna, hers actually was short.

Paine's finally departure from the other two however was the pair of jet black wings on her back. To the best of Naruto's knowledge however they were purely ornamental. While all three members of The Gullwings had wing like objects on them, Rikku's scarf and Yuna's hair pins, the wings did not seem to move in the same way that actual wings would in order to move Paine through the skies. The blonds best guess was that Paine just liked the way they looked and chose to incorporate them into her outfit, nothing wrong with that after all.

"Naruto we brought you dinner!" Yuna's voice was cheery but it was easy to tell she was trying harder than usual for his sake. While the small woman was usually quite upbeat but those who knew her could easily tell the difference between what was natural for her and what was force and this was most definitely forced. Paine however was far more blunt with her approach to things, not that it was a bad thing but sometimes a delicate touch eluded her. Well that or she simply didn't care enough to use a delicate touch, could go either way most of the time if truth be told.

"Are you done moping about." Her voice was cool but not cold, straight to the point and lacking in tact that was Paine to her core. Not that Naruto had the right to throw stones about that, after all he wasn't any more tactful than she was ninety percent of the time.

Those who lived in glass houses and all that.

"Yeah, I guess I am." The only normal sized person their responded picking up his sandwich and taking a bite. It was not completely true and they all knew it, but it made everyone sitting their feel better. Naruto could still remember the first time he'd met them, it was strange waking up in a back alley surrounded by tiny fairies, technically they were not fairies but none of The Gullwings was adverse to that label either so Naruto used it for them whenever he felt it was convent.

As per usual Yuna had been concerned, Rikku constantly asking questions and Paine seemingly disinterested but paying more attention than she let on to the whole affair. It had taken him a long time to get used to the three of them, well them and Traverse Town in general to be honest. When he had gone to leave the first time they had asked to come along, all three had thought it would be a good chance to, in their own words, 'get their hands on some awesome treasure'. Naruto had shot their idea down the second it had come out of their mouths, well Rikku's mouth with Yuna's vocal support while Paine just sort of floated in the background glaring at both of them.

Or maybe at him now that he thought about it.

However they had been rather insistent so he had made them a deal, he would take them with him if they could find away to survive The Way Between Worlds. His armour was close fitting after all so there was no way they were going to be able to slip under there at all. That left The Gullwings with what he believed to be an impossible task. The he had left and upon his return, less than three days later Naruto would like it to be noted. The Gullwings greeted him with a completely functioning, if miniature, Gummi-Ship.

Exactly how they had managed to construct it in three days, let alone had the know how to do so in the first place, completely baffled him. Honestly speaking Naruto suspected Cid's hand in the whole affair considering the grin plastered all over his face when the blond had entered his shop with the three fairies hovering around him. Back in those days he hadn't really wanted company, or help for that matter, no back then Naruto had been more than happy going on a one man crusade to destroy anything and everything that could even possibly be connected to the destruction of his world.

But The Gullwings had stuck to him like glue refusing to let go no matter what. Honestly looking back it was amazing that they had put up with him being such an anti-social bastard for so long without attempting to render him into a semi-concious state, something they could quite likely pull off if push came to shove. Eventually they had grown on Naruto which was a strange occurrence for the young Shinobi, usually he was the one that grew on people not the other way around.

With Rikku making a bed out of his hair, Naruto could feel the smaller blond curled up like a cat on his scalp, Yuna and Pain were forced to take up less comfortable positions. Paine taking up residence on his left shoulder, pulling part of Naruto's red coat over her in an attempt to stave off the chill that was starting to seep into the air. While Yuna flew into his right pocket and making herself at home, Naruto finished off the sandwich in another bite before standing it was time to go home, he'd give the plate back to Cid tomorrow after he'd washed it.

Honestly speaking Naruto wasn't sure if home was really 'Home' for him just yet but it was probably getting there. Inside was an interesting place consisting of a verity of different knick-knacks they had picked up in different worlds in addition to helping of treasure that The Gullwings had liberated from various places and people. The the house was complete with not only a bed for him but three miniature beds for the tiny women currently making themselves at home either on his body or in his clothing.

Tonight he'd just focus on getting a good nights sleep, tomorrow he could focus on saving yet another world.

 **XXX**

"So where exactly are we?" The words were asked by Rikku, who, like everyone else, was currently attempting to ignore the fact they were standing on what appeared to be a frozen wasteland. Not exactly the most welcoming of places they had ever been all things considered, not that he couldn't think of worse but Naruto didn't exactly like the cold either. The Gullwings had chosen to hide themselves in the three inside pockets of his jacket that had been installed for this exact reason, well that and the fact that fairies were not exactly common in most worlds and the first, and subsequently last, time he had let them ride on the outside they had almost screwed it up completely.

Rikku thought it had been funny to taunt people when she knew no one else was looking, Yuna would try to stop her and Paine couldn't help sighing and rolling her eyes at their antics. When all this happened at the same time it tended to attract attention and even though, somehow, no one had caught onto the fact that the three 'ornaments' were actually real Naruto had been branded 'The Strange Fairy Guy' for his whole time in that world.

Not a title, or an experience for that matter, that he wanted to relive.

"How are we supposed to know?" Paine's voice cut through the air like a knife. Her pure sarcasm somehow more cutting than even the most biting of Arctic winds. Which all amounted to nothing as said sarcasm bounced off of Rikku like a bike bouncing off the side of semi-trailer leaving the blond none worse for wear.

"Come on now Paine it is a good question." Ever the peacemaker Yuna chose to speak up attempting to stop the two friends from butting heads mere seconds after stepping into a new world.

"Good question or not how exactly were we supposed to know the answer to it?" The silver haired fairy pointed out bluntly, Naruto, who was currently trudging towards the lights that were over a nearby ridge, had to admit she had a good point. There was no real way to know anything about a world without stepping into it and experiencing it first hand. Sure you could make some generalised observations about the place by viewing it in The Place Between Worlds but the most that ever amounted to was a tenuous, if that, grasp of the geography of the world they were about to land on.

It seemed Yuna didn't really have an answer to that question as she did not reply to Paine's retort. Still Rikku's question was also an important one, if not one that they could answer straight away. The first thing they needed to do after landing was to gather as much information as possible about the world they had landed on, made it much easier to blend in. Though it did mean that he was probably going to fake having amnesia again, oh boy this was going to be fun.

Note the sarcasm.

Note it!

The three fairies were quiet as he trudged slowly towards the top of the ridge. It was times like this that Naruto was glad for the more simple applications of Magic, for example running it through his body to enhance his resistance to things like the cold, granted it wasn't perfect but it was better than feeling like his hands were about to fall off. Even Rikku did not repeat her question, either she had been paying attention to Paine's scathing, though accurate, replies or, far more likely, she had realised that her question could not be readily answered and was choosing to keep her mouth shut for the time being.

Once again something that could go either way.

Reaching the top of the, rather steep now that he thought about it, ridge Naruto was greeted by a sight for sore eyes. It was a town, a very large one to. Certainly not large enough to be called a city, at least not by his standards but then again maybe what passed for a city was different in this world, but a very large town all the same. That was a very good thing, because for a few seconds there the blond had been convinced that he would be making his way across the frozen tundra for days before actually reaching civilisation. Lights usually indicated civilisation but for all he knew the lights over the ridge had been made by some kind of natural phenomenon rather than a man made one. The blond had been forced to cross large expanses of hostile terrain before and it was not an experience he truly wanted to repeat. Granted that had been jungle rather than frozen tundra though, the point, however, remained.

More importantly it looked as though they were having a festival, which was great news for him. Mostly because he could see a port not to far from the town and quite a few ships in the harbour, that meant that there were already foreigners enjoying the festival so he would not stick out like a sore thumb at least. There was a ruffle of fabric as Yuna, surprisingly enough, was the one to come racing out of his coat to float before his eyes, closely followed by Rikku with Paine brining up the rear at a more sedate pace and alighting on his left shoulder rather than floating before him as the other two were doing.

"Naruto can we go, please, please!" Yuna spoke first, her hands pressed together as she asked, well more like demanded, that they went to check out the festival in progress. Granted they would be going into the town either way but Yuna, and Rikku since she was floating behind her cousin with an eager look on her face, probably thought that he would bypass the festival entirely and get straight down to business. Which was more than likely exactly what he would have done, the blond did not miss the fact that Paine, while not standing with her friends hadn't cut them down to size with a sarcastic remark either. That meant even she wanted to visit the festival, even if the small woman did not want to admit it out loud.

"Alright then, we'll spend some time down there before I go looking for trouble." Naruto replied waving his hand from side to side a small smile on his face. Well it wasn't like he didn't want to enjoy the festival either, back home the blond had enjoyed every festival that Konoha had put on and in Traverse Town he never missed the Christmas Parade either. Festivals were fun after all and Naruto supposed that while he did have an important job to do here, you know the whole lock The Keyhole and prevent the fall of this world into Darkness gig, the blond reasoned that they probably had time to enjoy themselves a little first.

After all it wasn't like he had any idea on where to start looking for The Keyhole either, maybe something they saw at the festival would point them in the right direction. Then again maybe they would just have fun, either way was good really.

"YAY! Yunie we can go!" Rikku yelled at a volume that was quite disproportionate for her slight stature. Before the smaller blond hugged the brown haired fairy next to her the two of them floating up and down as they did so, Naruto took one look at Paine, who was still sitting on his shoulder red eyes met blue and both of them sighed good naturedly. They may have a bit of a hard time dealing with the other two's antics at times, Paine far more than Naruto in that regard, but they all got along well all the same.

"Thanks!" Rikku pulled away from Yuna to deliver her thank you complete with fist pump toward the larger of the two blonds.

"Ah, yes thank you." Yuna's own thank you was more reserved and polite but no less warm. Though the other two could not see it due to Paine moving slightly to get out of sight Naruto could feel the sliver haired fairy pat him on the back slightly, her own silent thank you.

"Now mush Naruto!" And just like that Rikku had to ruin the moment. Blue eyes met green with a flat look that Rikku completely ignored zipping back inside of his coat closely followed by Yuna who gave him a small bow, whether that was out of thanks or as an apology he was not completely sure. Paine just gave him a nod as she followed the other two at a more sedate pace slipping underneath his red coat and settling back into her own pocket.

Choosing not to start an argument over Rikku's less than stellar choice words Naruto trudged onwards towards the festival, knowing The Gullwings like he did the blond also knew they wanted to go to that festival for more than just to look around. There was most likely 'treasure', and he used that term loosely, that they would dearly like to acquire there. Naruto knew that the three small women would at least attempt to acquire it whether or not it already had an owner, The Gullwings knowledge about property law was flimsy at the best of times. So long as it didn't come back to bite him in the ass this time, it had in the past after all, the blond said go for it.

So long as it was something that the owner wasn't actually going to miss all that much.

Not that Naruto really felt he had much to worry about on that count. The girls could be impetuous at times but they would never take something from someone that held real emotional value form that person, monetary value certainly but not something that held emotional value. Naruto slipped down the ridge with a jump, reinforcing his muscles with magic on the way down to avoid ending up like a pancake upon landing. It was an old trick that he had been taught back when he was just first starting down the path of the Shinobi back home, reinforcing ones limbs with magic.

He had also started playing with another idea recently, wearing his armour all time time was not exactly an option, well unless he wanted to stand out more than he already did. Usually when bladed weapons came into play Naruto relied on parrying, blocking or outright dodging the strikes that came his way. But his new idea would really help with survivability if things ever got really messy, which they eventually would his luck would have it no other way.

The idea was a simple one, as a matter of fact it was the Keyblade itself that had given him the idea. At all times the bladed part of the weapon was encircled by a sheath of magic that enhanced it's cutting power. Naruto's idea was to use that same magic wall but apply it defensively rather than offensively, coving his body with an invisible armour that would help him withstand all but the most powerful of blows. Of course the idea was still in the trial phase so he was not about to entrust his landing to it but it had been showing good results recently none the less. Though granted Naruto had yet to start testing it out on more lethal and powerful attacks, that said the idea was showing a lot of promise so far.

Landing in a slightly crouch Naruto stood and walked towards the town once more, turning his walk into a jog to keep up his temperature as he did so. The moon was out but that didn't really mean much, on his own world the sun had risen in the east and set in the west. That was also normal for most worlds he had been on but a few had defied the norm and had the sun rise in the west and set in the east. So until he found out where the sun rose and set as well as the standard length of each day on this new world the sky would not be a reliable way to tell the time and due to his constant jumping of worlds Naruto didn't bother to wear a watch. After all who wanted to have to reset their watch all the time?

The blond's jog slowed to a walk once more as he entered the large town, slipping into the lively place through a back street and mingling with the crowd. He could feel Yuna and Rikku moving around inside of his coat, trying to peak out without being spotted. Paine was likely sighing and rolling her eyes at them from her pocket, but the fact she was not trying to stop them meant that the sliver haired woman wanted to know what was happening as well. Not that Naruto blamed them either, the festival really was a lively place. Almost everyone was dressed up for the occasion, some in truly fanciful outfits but that was good for him since now Naruto's own sense of dress was not attracting to much attention.

Thankfully the sound of the people around him also stopped anyone from hearing the excited conversation that Yuna and Rikku were having inside of his coat while Paine interjected every few seconds with a cutting remark of some kind. Ah well no one was going to hear them anyone so Naruto didn't feel the need to tell The Gullwings to be quiet. That said he was starting to get hungry, neither he nor the three fairies had eaten since breakfast after all, around seven or eight hours or so ago unless Naruto missed his guess.

Money was always something that was a little tricky to come by in different worlds, thankfully Heatless carried all the same items on them that they did when they were alive. Which meant that if Naruto killed a Heartless on a certain world usually it would drop the currency of that world when it died, along with any other items minus clothing that may have been on them at the time of their fall into darkness.

House keys mainly.

Seriously he had a Kami be damned collection of the things by this point.

The main problem right now was the fact that Naruto had no idea where to find Heartless right now. He was keeping an ear out while walking for any reports of strange beings of darkness but no one was saying anything even remotely like that. Which meant that Naruto had to fall back on his back up plan, money of individual worlds was hard to come by when he first got there however there was one thing that every world he had ever been to seemed to hold as valuable.

Gold.

It was his usual practise these days to spend some time in Traverse Town between excursions to other worlds. While he was there Naruto, along with Leon, Yuffie and others spent time eliminating the Heartless that cropped up in the various districts. Like with every other world they dropped money unlike every other world however Traverse Town had one thing that none of the others Naruto had ever visited did.

A Moogle Synthesis Shop.

The Moogles were more than happy to trade the money that he collected fighting Heartless for gold of equal value. With their Synthesis gold was not even something that the Moogles found difficult to procure, they simply made more when needed. They had never told him how exactly, not precisely a great business model if you go giving out secrets after all, how they did it but Naruto was one hundred percent sure that lead was involved. Other than that though he was clueless as to how the Moogles created gold.

Pulling an ingot out of a pocket the blond haired Keyblade user walked towards a small stand that seemed to be selling small chickens on a stick. The ingot was half the size of his index finger and about one third as thick. It was probably worth fifty of the damned birds but it was also the smallest size he carried and Naruto only had five of them. Three of the size up and one of the only size bigger than that, and those he certainly was not wasting. That said he would need to leave this town quickly after spending that gold or else some questions that he could not readily answer without risking the secret of other worlds would likely come up.

"Hi," Naruto greeted warmly waving his, non-ingot holding hand, at the salesman. He was a tall man with dark skin and a weathered face that had clearly seen many years but his eyes were shining with what could only be described as joy at the proceedings around him.

"Good to meet you young man." The older man replied with a deep voice and a small nod to the blond before him. "Are you hungry?" The dark skinned man asked pointing to the small chickens on sticks around him, Naruto nodded some people would have considered answering the older man's question with a scathingly sarcastic answer, Paine he was looking at you here, but the older man seemed like a genuinely nice person and Naruto did not want to create friction where it did not have to exist.

"Yeah starving can I buy one of the chickens please?" The blond inquired making the older man nod and pull on of the birds off of the hot coals it had been resting on the succulent smell of spices reaching Naruto's nose instantly and while he could not see he got the impression that Rikku was likely drooling as well. Handing the ingot of gold over, and getting a very strange look in return Naruto turned to leave as another, slightly younger by the look of things, man came over and excitedly ordered an Arctic Hen before receiving the same bird on a stick that Naruto had.

Okay so the bird was not a chicken, good to know every bit of knowledge helped after all. Turning and walking towards a side street, after all he could not well show the girls in public least there be even more uncomfortable questions than his gold, Naruto could not help but over hear a conversation by a group of men and women that were walking past him.

"It's a shame that the Southern Water Tribe has abandoned all connections to the spirits. Even during the most hallowed times." The words that came from a tall man with dark skin, something that Naruto was starting to attribute to being from a Water Tribe. After all dark skin seemed to be the norm around here, thankfully his own tan could pass quite well in low light, and it made sense for the natives to be the most numerous even during a festival. Well he assumed there were more than one Water Tribe, after all the tall man with the hollow face stressed the word Southern when he had mentioned Water Tribe. Meaning that there was probably a Northern Water Tribe as well, maybe even an Eastern and a Western one. Either way there was likely more than just one Water Tribe and all information was useful to him, even if some of it was just speculation on his part.

"I've always loved The Glacier Spirits Festival, it's fun." The opposing view came from a girl walking just in front of the hollow faced man. She seemed to be the same age, or maybe slightly younger than he was wearing the same type of clothing and with the same skin colour of the 'locals', as Naruto was starting to think of them. Behind her was walking a young man with a far paler complexion, like more than a few of the people walking around. So he probably wasn't a local, considering how closely he was walking to the girl they definitely had something going on, or he wanted something to be going on. Either way it was none of Naruto's business.

"This festival used to be a time of fasting and meditation." The hollow cheeked man replied his voice cracking like a whip as he did so before it turned to something resembling a mixture of frustration, pity and honest amusement that he was trying very hard to hide. "Now it's just an excuse to watch some rube try to stick a whole Arctic Hen in his mouth." Almost against his will Naruto found his neck turning towards the area the man had pointed to, it was a complete violation of every eavesdropping technique he had every been taught but that just sounded too amusing to miss. Besides he could feel Yuna, Rikku and even Paine moving to get a look from under his coat as well, it seemed all of them wanted to see this.

There, standing at the stall he had just left was a young man that looked to be slightly younger than he was. Kitted up warmly against the cold and holding in his right hand the same poultry that Naruto had and, just as the hollow cheeked man had said, he was making a valiant attempt at fitting the whole thing in his mouth all at once. Noticing the looks he was getting from the group the green eyed man turned to them his mouth turned up in a kind of dopey, but still very warm, grin.

"I can't help it." The man admitted bringing the Arctic Hen up to his mouth once more. "It just tastes so good!" He said before once more attempting to fit the whole bird in his mouth, Naruto turned away and leant against the side of the ally he was in as The Gullwings went back to their pockets. Now facing away from the group but still focused on their conversation, who knew he might even get a little more than some basic information and a little bit of entertainment out of it.

"Traditions change." Another man spoke up, he was of equal hight to the hollow faced man and looked quite similar, a family resemblance perhaps? Still now the only people who had not spoken were the brightly dressed old man in the back with the arrow tattoo and the beard and the young man who had just moved off to speak with the guy who was still trying to get that Arctic Hen in his mouth. "That's not necessarily a bad thing." The larger of the two 'brothers' stated rolling his shoulders slowly, was that a little bit of hostility he was feeling between the two of them? No matter it was not Naruto's problem and it wasn't going to be, at least the blond hoped not, family feuds were always the worst.

"Tell that to the sailors that have gone missing thanks to angry spirits in Southern Water Tribe waters." The hollow cheeked 'brother' snapped back, now there was information that Naruto was actually interested in. This world may actually have spirits in it, apparently Radiant Garden, the world that Yuna, Rikku and Paine hailed form, had them as well in the forms of Guardian Beasts known as Aeons. But even if this world did have spirits it would be all to easy for them to confuse an evil spirit with a Heatless, especially if they had never encountered a Heartless before.

"Some traditions have purpose." The hollow cheeked man finished his statement with a grim smile, the kind worn by one who had won an argument that they knew would give rise to more conflict.

"Wait spirits are attacking ships?" The girl cut back into the conversation, Naruto risked looking back, the old man in the colourful robes now seemed to be paying more attention to the words though he had not yet spoken and the two 'brothers' were both standing in such as way as to indicate aggression towards each other.

"I'm surprised The Avatar does not know about this." The hollow cheeked 'brother' stated, Naruto turned back as he spoke he did not think they had noticed his eavesdropping yet but there was always a good reason to be cautious. Still the way he said that word, Avatar, the girl was obviously important and considering that hollow cheek seemed like he was pretty high up on the political ladder himself that meant she was definitely up there. Avatar, the question now was if the title was simply ceremonial or if the holder actually really was something special when compared against everyone else.

"Apparently you have not been given all the information you need." Hollow cheek stated with a smirk. "It would be my honour to instruct you in the spiritual ways of The Water Tribe." The man stated, the way he had said that Water Tribe. Well he hadn't divided it into Southern Water Tribe that time so did that mean that the parts of The Water Tribe were under some kind of centralised government or did it mean something else? Naruto shook his head, it didn't matter he'd gone as far as he could with speculation as far as that was concerned.

"Tenzin is Korra's instructor he will be able to teach her all she needs." The larger of the two 'brothers' cut in before the girl, Korra unless Naruto was woefully mistaken, could answer. Wow it looked like those two really did not like each other, or at least that was the vibe he was getting from all of this.

"If that is what you believe." Hollow cheeks voice rang out again and Naruto could almost picture him sneering. Still Naruto didn't think that he'd learn anything else from this conversation, well nothing else that was worth getting caught over anyway. Moving off of the side of the ally the blond walked into the back streets, time to find a nice secluded spot where he and the girls could eat without someone seriously freaking out on them. Walking forward the blond reviewed what he had just learned, or overheard at any rate.

Well there was some new information at least, he was in an area ruled by The Southern Water Tribe, which may or may not be part of a larger Water Tribe Coalition. The festival was The Glacier Spirits Festival and it's original meaning had been for communion with the spirits. Okay so he was missing one hell of a lot of context here, still more information was more information. The Jackpot of that conversation however was that little titbit of information about dark spirits, that was something he would need to follow up on. But right now he had to find a place to eat this Arctic Hen before it went cold because then Rikku, Yuna and Paine would complain to him about it.

Ducking further into the back alleys, Naruto headed away from the lights before settling on the ground and opening up his coat. All three of The Gullwings took the chance to come out, they didn't have any plates so the three were going to have to make do with using their hands just like he was. Unlike Naruto the three girls were not freezing in their outfits, mostly due to the fact that every member of The Gullwings was better at Magic than he was, no doubt the girls were circulating a low powered fire spell around them to warm the air up and make their temperature just cosy. There was only one reason that they were under his coat. They would attract too much attention if they were out in the open. Every last one of them had more than enough Mana to make keeping such a low level spell active a very minor inconvenience at best.

"May we please have some Naruto?" Yuna, always the polite one, asked hovering close to the Arctic Hen both her blue and green eyes staring at the poultry unblinkingly. Paine had not bothered asking instead ripping off a small piece and nodding her thanks to him. Rikku was even less polite about it, rather than ripping a piece off the small woman had instead simply flown up and bit a chunk out of the Arctic Hen like some kind of demented vulture before flying back a little and chewing slowly.

"That guy was right this is good!" The blond woman declared with a smile as she bobbed up and down in the air. Naruto just let out a good natured sigh before addressing Yuna's question.

"Of course you can Yuna, feel free." The larger blond replied ripping off a drumstick for himself as he did so.

"Thank you Naruto." The Gullwings 'leader', Naruto used that title loosely not because Rikku and Paine didn't listen to Yuna, they most certainly did, but because none of them really led. It was more given to Yuna due to the fact that she was the best suited to being their public face as it were, replied. The brown haired woman, much like her sliver haired friend, ripped off a small piece of the hen and gobbled it down a smile on her face as she did so. Sinking his own teeth into his piece Naruto had to admit that both the man at the stall and Rikku were right, the Arctic Hen was delicious!

"Say Naruto," Rikku began slowly after ripping off another piece of hen and stuffing it in her mouth of course. "I was wondering if we could walk around, please?" The fairy like woman pleaded, with her hands held up before her eyes, which were watering slightly.

"No." The larger blond shot that plan down before it could really take form. While The Gullwings were conspicuous as tiny faeries they were capable of the strangest thing Naruto had ever seen. The three could combine together to form one single body that was as large as a regular person, of course the form was not without it's down sides either.

Firstly only one of them could assume fully human size at a time. Meaning it would either be Rikku or Yuna that would be full sized instead of fun sized and walking around with him, Paine would never admit that she was interested enough in the festival to take control of the body. The other two members of The Gullwings, while this transformation was active, became little more than living hair ornaments in the shape of their real bodies. Unable to move or speak but apparently whoever was 'driving', as it were, could hear them speak telepathically and reply in turn.

Secondly the transformation lasted, at best, for six hours and that was if they were not in combat. Thirdly they could not transform more than once in a twenty four hour period and once they were back to their individual selves again all three of The Gullwings was completely drained of Mana, which usually took them between twelve and twenty four hours to recharge making them useless if any fighting was to be done. Usually, when they were outside of Traverse Town, their merger was only used as a last resort when Naruto needed some extra help in battle. Which was exactly why he was shooting the idea down, he had just heard about evil spirits and possible Heartless near by he was not having the girls unable to defend themselves just because Rikku wanted to look around herself.

"But why not?" The small woman whined her voice pitiful and form wilting as she did so. Naruto was saved from answering by Paine, with her usual lack of tact, cutting in for him.

"Because it's a stupid idea." The silver haired woman replied hovering in front of her blond haired friend, Rikku's cheeks puffed up indigently at Paine's words.

"Who asked you, killjoy." The tiny blond woman muttered pouting. Rikku could be a little bit of a ditz at times but she was really very intelligent and likely understood the reason behind Paine's, and Naruto's own, answer as soon as they were spoken.

"I know you want to go Rikku but we can always find another festival when it's safer, then we can all go together." Yuna tried, patting her cousin on the back lightly as she did so prompting a rather dramatic reaction from the blond woman.

"WAH! Yunie, Naruto and Paine are being meanies!" Rikku yelled, she truly did posses an impressive set of lungs for such a small woman, Naruto pitied Yuna for being so close right then. Before the blond haired fairy threw her arms around her cousin and pretended to sob loudly into her neck, Naruto sighed good naturedly and reached out stroking Rikku's head with his index finger softly.

"I know you wanted to go Rikku but when it's safe we can all go together," The blue eyed blond stated with a huge grin. While right now it was not a good idea truth be told Naruto wouldn't mind going to a festival with any of The Gullwings in human sized form, or all of them in fun sized form without having to hide. It would be fun, and Kami knew he didn't get enough of that these days.

All work and no play made Naruto a dull boy!

"You really promise?" Rikku asked brining her head away from Yuna's neck as she did so, some crocodile tears still coursing down her cheeks. Now Naruto was sure that they were using fire magic to heat up the air other wise those tears should have frozen half way down Rikku's face.

"Yep, now would you like some more Arctic Hen?" Naruto inquired holding up the now half eaten poultry that was starting to get warm rather than hot and would soon go cold.

"Would I!" Rikku yelled racing forward with a massive smile and taking another large bite of the hen. Naruto felt Paine alight on his left shoulder and looked over to see the silver haired woman giving him a slightly amused look, which on anybody else would have been a full sized grin.

"You sure got her back in good spirits fast." The silver haired fairy stated making Naruto shrug, carefully to avoid dislodging her.

"It's just a matter of knowing which buttons to press." He confided making Paine nod sagely before taking off once more to get another bite of the truly delicious Arctic Hen.

"Maybe it is but I'm still glad that she's not crying anymore." Yuna's voice sounded from next to his ear almost making Naruto start, he had not been expecting her. Turning his head brought the Naruto's own blue eyes face to face with Yuna's blue and green ones.

"Were you serious about going to a festival when it's safe?" The small woman asked making Naruto nod, a bright smile took over Yuna's face as soon as he did.

"I'm glad." The fairy like woman stated still hovering just off of Naruto's shoulder. "I know you always try to keep you promises but I really want to go to a festival as well." Yuna admitted before flying off to grab another piece of Arctic Hen.

"W-Well I will admit this was not quite what I was expecting." The words were not expected and as such prompted a violent reaction from the group of four. They had worked together for two years and knew each other well, it was times like this, when speaking was a luxury they could not afford, that the unlikely group of companions really shined. The Gullwings immediately took up a defencive formation, Yuna at it's centre with Rikku serving as the right wing and Paine as the left. Naruto himself surged to his feet, summoning his Keyblade in a split second, Shattered Dreams fitting in his hand like an old friend and taking up a position in front of The Gullwings.

When they could fight together this was their default formation. Yuna was by far the best user of White Magic of the bunch as such the brown haired woman usually kept to healing and shielding while Paine and Rikku rained down destruction with Black Magic and Naruto suck to beating the hell out of whatever was in front of them. If more fire-power was needed then the girls would combine, if it was physical power they needed Paine would become the full sized body, if it was speed then Rikku got to take centre stage and, finally, if magic was needed then Yuna would be the one graduating from fun size to full size.

Standing at the other end of the ally was the brightly dressed old man that had been accompanying the two 'brothers' and the girl called 'The Avatar'. Naruto kept his Keyblade before him blade held straight out in front of him, a more neutral position than his favoured offensively focused stance but right now they had a chance of getting out of this without fighting so the blond would try and take that chance. Of course if they had to fight he wasn't about to show the other man mercy but Naruto also was not a stab happy psychopath so peace would be pursued first and murder second.

The other man placed his hands up in, what was apparently a universal as far as Naruto could tell, sign of surrender and peace. Now that he was looking at the man up close Naruto had to admit that while the mixture of red and yellow was eye catching to the extreme arrow heads brown beard was most impressive and the way it was sticking out from his face, either the laws of physics were played fast and loose in this world, as some did, or the man used a metric tonne of gel on it every morning.

Naruto was betting on the latter rather than the former.

"Please let us keep this civilised," Arrow head stated and considering Naruto could feel no ill intent coming from him he seemed to mean his words. "My name is Tenzin, the leader of The Air Nomads and current teacher to The Avatar. May I ask your name young man who communes so freely with the spirits?" The newly named Tenzin inquired, Naruto made sure not to let his relief show on his face, Tenzin believed Yuna, Rikku and Paine to be spirits, that was either going to work in their favour or blow up in their faces but either way now it seemed to be more of a blessing than a curse, time would tell how long that held for though.

"Naruto," The blond responded, he never knew whether or not to add his last name to that or where exactly it should be added for that matter. Should he introduce himself as Uzumaki Naruto as was the custom of his home or a Naruto Uzumaki as seemed to be the custom just about everywhere else. Honestly speaking he had given up on deciding long ago and now didn't bother offering his last name unless pressed.

"I see," Tenzin stated slowly lowering his hands, though keeping them in view and clearly away from any pockets and thus away from any weapons that could be stored therein. "And may I ask your names spirits?" The older man inquired of The Gullwings who were starting to relax a little.

"Rikku!" The blond haired woman spoke up with her usual bubbly enthusiasm.

"My name is Yuna, it's nice to meet you." The 'leader' of The Gullwings spoke up, giving a small bow with her introduction.

"Paine." The simple straight to the point answer was given by the most stoic of the trio, and the only one besides Naruto himself who had not yet relaxed.

"It is very nice to meet all of you as well." Tenzin replied giving a small bow of his own, though it mostly seemed to be directed towards Yuna, well a polite greeting for a polite greeting Naruto supposed.

"I do apologise for startling all of you but I caught onto your eavesdropping of my companions earlier conversation and decided to follow you. As you know The Avatar has many enemies and I did not wish for one to get the upper hand if it could be avoided. While I am not sorry for pursuing you as I did not, and still do not, know your intentions towards her I am sorry for immediately treating you as an enemy and startling you, would you be willing to talk this out?" The Air Nomad inquired, not sensing deception Naruto lowered his blade. If the older man really was willing, and everything he had seen led Naruto to believe that he was, to talk this out then the blond would be more than happy to oblige him.

"I would be more than happy to talk this over Tenzin." The blond responded, The Gullwings kept their own council but they seemed to agree with him. With Paine and Rikku settling on Naruto's left shoulder while Yuna alighted on his right. The fact that Rikku was willing to forgo her usual seat in his hair meant that she was completely understanding that if this conversation went south then the chances of them not having to fight their way out of the city was slim to none.

Naruto had very deliberately made his words formal, most people reacted well to that especially ones that were seemingly very formal themselves. The blond on a completely personal note disliked formality, but over the years he had learned it's uses first from Old Man Hokage and more recently from Aerith and Leon in addition to a few of the worlds he had visited.

"I am glad then please let me get the more distasteful topics out of the way first." Tenzin stated before opening his mouth to say more, however their peaceful resolution to the problem was not to be.

An explosion roared out through the night, shaking the ground around them and making the snow vibrate. Worse still Naruto could feel it, Darkness like a river flooded into his senses, whatever it was that made that explosion happen it was neither happy nor friendly. The blond haired Keyblade user did not waste any time, kicking off the ground hard and using the buildings as climbing points he quickly made it to the roof tops.

The explosion had happened a little over three blocks away, pouring magic into his legs Naruto kicked off again, shattering the roof of the building he was on in the process. The blond could feel The Gullwings close behind, they would likely go with the usual plan. The three girls seal off the area keeping The Heartless contained while Naruto kicked the crap out of it.

He really hoped it would be that simple.

"Nothing can ever be easy can it?" Naruto lamented with a sigh, then again nothing worth doing ever was. The blond haired Keyblade wielder just guessed it was a another day in paradise.

 **Chapter 1- End.**


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